


Angels and Dogs

by lunardreamed



Category: NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-05
Updated: 2013-05-05
Packaged: 2017-12-10 11:06:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/785357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunardreamed/pseuds/lunardreamed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been over two years since Tony died - became a vampire - and Kate's still trying to figure out how to deal with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angels and Dogs

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written in 2005 as Christmas gift and authorized sequel to [**demonqueen**](http://demonqueen666.livejournal.com)'s [_Nightfall_](http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=demonqueen666&keyword=Nightfall&filter=all) and [_Shades of Gray_](http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=demonqueen666&keyword=Shades%20of%20Grey&filter=all). I'm fond of the story so I'm reposting it and I recommend reading  Nightfall at least, because it is a great story. I recommend _Shades of Gray_ , as well, but it is unfinished and abandoned. 
> 
> If you don't want to read them, I've provided a brief synopsis at the end. You won't get the story without it.

Christmas is actually a lonely time for those who work under Agent Gibbs. He doesn’t celebrate and expects that no one else on his team will either. They’re one of the few teams on call. So, there’s no point traveling to visit her family and she hasn’t found a guy that will put up with the hours that she works. Which leaves Special Agent Caitlin Todd home alone after dark, Christian tunes playing and a glass of wine sitting on the floor next to her while she unpacks her Christmas tree ornaments two weeks before Christmas.

To her, it’s an important tradition. Each ornament carries a memory. The memory of the person who gave it to her or a memory of a Christmas past. They’re all good memories and she treasures each ornament for them. Even the angel dressed as a stripper that Tony gave her. Only he would think it was appropriate for a Christmas tree and every time she sees it she has to laugh, remembering the way he tormented her, that sparkle in his eyes that assured her that it was only in fun. It’s a good memory and she doesn’t hesitate to put the ornament on the tree and she’s not at all ashamed that it’s right there on the front where everyone can see. It’s right between the Goth angel from Abby and the drummer boy from McGee.

Before he gave it to her, she could barely stand the guy. She took all his teasing so seriously until he and Abby had simultaneously given her their angels, both of them grinning like the lunatics she thought they were, anticipating her reaction. She’d realized that they just enjoyed shocking her out of her prudish nature and that was the moment that she’d truly joined the insanity that was Gibbs’s team. When she’d decided that she would be there long enough that they had a place on her tree.

She missed him.

* * *

“Abby?” Abby didn’t even hear Kate over the loud music. Kate tapped her on the shoulder.

“Gaaah!” Abby screeched and whirled around. “Oh. It’s you.” She turned off the music. “Geez, Kate. Are you sure you’re not the vampire?” Kate winced. Abby’s jokes about Tony were sometimes hard to take. “Results aren’t done yet, but you’re welcome to stay.” Kate smiled and sat down. “We still going out Friday?” Abby asked.

“Yes. Of course. But I choose the place this time.”

“Come on. You need to expand your horizons.”

“So do you,” Kate laughed. “What’s that?”

“Uh . . .” Abby stretched back to see what Kate was talking about. “Oh! Remember when Tony called on Halloween?” Abby had thought that was great. She’d been walking on air. She’d told them all about it. He’d said “hi” to them all. McGee had looked a little green. Gibbs had gotten a little smile and shaken his head. Ducky had asked eagerly for news. Tony had told Abby to tell him that he’d finally made it to Rome. “That’s the number he called from.”

“Really. You’ve called him?” Kate thought that Abby would have mentioned that.

“No, but it’s nice to have it. You know?” Kate nodded. She understood that Abby needed to keep up with him somehow. Kate hadn’t known what to feel. She was glad he was all right, but she was trying to put him behind her.

* * *

Kate stood outside the church, a familiar battle inside of her. For the first year after Tony died, she had lit a candle for him every time she passed. Then, she learned the truth. As far as she knew, vampires were beyond saving. So, she hadn’t lit a candle for him anymore. He’d told them that he might as well be dead to them. He’d told them to forget that he was out there. And they had. It had been like he was dying all over again, but they had forgotten and moved on. The only thing that had changed had been that she didn’t light a candle for him.

And then, he’d shown up. Out of the blue. Just wanting to say hello. They’d all solved a case together and spent the next month or so just enjoying his company. There had been awkward moments and long silences, but mostly it had been like old times.

It hurt all over again when he left. But it was harder this time. This time, they couldn’t forget. They couldn’t contact him, but he couldn’t be dead anymore. They had been trapped in a sort of limbo. There had been lunches when someone wondered what he was doing. McGee had been a little jumpier at night, but no one had the heart to tease him about it. Every time a shadow moved, Abby whirled around, a bright greeting on her lips. Tony’s cabinet in the morgue had gone empty, and remained so this time. Gibbs had become even more impatient on cases and slept at the office more often than he did under the boat. He wasn’t willing to leave a case alone.

And every time she passed by a church, Kate had an internal battle with herself about whether to light a candle for him. After those two months that Tony had spent with them, he had become less a monster in her eyes and more a man, alone and needing. In the end, she never did light a candle.

She didn’t today.

* * *

“Kate. You leaving soon?” McGee asked.

“Just finishing up.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” She turned back to her computer and finished up. As she shoved the papers aside, a slip of paper caught her eye. Tony’s number. She copied it from Abby – an impulse. It probably wouldn’t work. What was the harm? Acting on another impulse, Kate dialed.

“Uh . . . Hello.” Kate froze. She couldn’t believe it. He actually answered. “Who is this?” Tony growled angrily.

“Tony.”

“Kate!” The voice on the other end was completely shocked. “Kate! How—”

“Um . . . you . . . uh . . . you called Abby on this number.”

“And you kept it?”

“Look, Tony. You wanna come down for a bit? . . . uh . . .”

“Yes! I mean . . . uh . . . as soon as . . . I’ll meet you at the office—”

“No! . . . I mean, come to my apartment. You remember . . .”

“I remember.” He sounded a little less sure, now. “Well . . . bye.”

“Bye,” Kate answered softly to the dial tone. “That was stupid.”

* * *

Three nights passed. Three nights during which Kate entered her apartment like it was an unsecured crime scene. She had to suppress the urge to pull her gun. Three nights she jumped at every shadow. By now she had decided that he wasn’t going to show.

Tony always had liked to catch her off guard.

“Hey, Kate.” His voice was soft, but she still shrieked and jumped three feet in the air.

“Tony! What the hell are you doing?” Kate screamed at him.

Tony just grinned back at her. It was unnerving to see him flash his fangs and his smile dropped the moment he saw her expression.

“You startled me.”

“Sorry.” And he did sound a little contrite.

“So, what do you need? Or am I too late?” Tony sounded as eager as a puppy. He used to sound like that whenever Gibbs gave any indication of needing him.

“Need?” Kate blinked at him. She didn’t need anything from him.

“I just thought . . . when you called . . .” Tony sounded so disappointed, Kate hastily corrected him.

“It’s not that. I just figured that Cassidy wasn’t big on Christmas.”

“No.” Tony laughed, but Kate didn’t think she was imagining the hint of sadness. “She thinks it’s amusing, though.”

“Well, I thought you might miss it. I thought maybe you’d want to spend it with a friend.”

Tony’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great!”

There was a long, awkward silence. “Maybe some wine?” Tony suggested suddenly.

“Good idea.” Kate rushed into the kitchen. She couldn’t believe that he was here. She couldn’t believe she’d invited him to stay. She was crazy. She’d lost her mind. This was why she never acted on impulse. She came back out to find Tony staring at her tree. He turned towards her.

“You put it on your tree.” He gestured at the ornament he’d given her.

“Yeah, well . . . where else would I put it?”

Tony leered at her and she shoved a drink at him before he could open his mouth. “Drink your wine.”

“Trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me.” Kate rolled her eyes. “I almost forgot.” Tony reached into his coat pocket and handed her a gold wrapped package. “This is for you.”

“Thank you.” She opened the professionally wrapped box and gasped. “Oh, Tony. It’s beautiful!” Inside was a delicate crystal angel that glittered in the dim lighting.

Tony shrugged. “It’s nothing really.”

“I love it.” Kate gave him a quick hug and got up to put it on the tree.

“So, where do I sleep, Katie?” Tony bounced his eyebrows at her.

“I was taught that dogs belonged on the floor,” Kate tossed back at him with a grin. Picking up her glass, she rejoined him on the couch.

_fini_

**Author's Note:**

>  _Nightfall_
> 
> Tony is attacked and turned into a vampire by a woman named Cassidy. The rest of the team doesn't know and are understandably upset when his body disappears from the morgue. A year later, he returns to help them stop a vampire, and keep them from getting killed in the process, and they learn the truth. When it's all over, he tells them that he might as well be dead to them and that they will never see each other again. However, Cassidy warns him that it will be harder to stay away now. 
> 
> _Shades of Gray_
> 
> Eight months after the end of Nightfall, Tony can't stay away any longer and manages to get involved in working a case with the team.


End file.
